adventures in vagabonding

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Monthly Archives: October 2011

Since we moved out of the hustle and bustle of downtown to the ‘burbs of Portland and squarely into the quirky neighborhood known as St. Johns – named for a hermit who first settled the Peninsula. It is said that he was a quiet, saintly man — and also that he didn’t frequent the local brothel — earning him the nickname Saint John.

One of the mottos that any visitor or newcomer to Portland hears over and over is “Keep Portland Weird”.

yep…it’s weird alright.

Portlanders are very proud of their city’s reputation for eccentricity and declare the statement broadly on entire building walls. This propensity for odd behavior manifests itself in the behavior of its citizens. It’s like we have all decided to flow through life listening to our own beat and expect you to do the same.

There’s just something about this town that’s so wrong in all the right ways. Never fear Portland — you are in no danger of losing your bell-ringing weird status!

The funny thing is that if Portland is weird — St. Johns has to be the bacon dripped salaciously over the majestic maple delight donut of weird. Thank you Voodoo.

You see — St. Johns has just a little something something — extra-especially weird. It’s hard to describe. An odd blending of old, new, down-on-your-luck, newly made middle class, and re-gentrification mish-mashed together and centered around a downtown core of tiny Mom and Pops and ubiquitous dive bars.

Just like a nice breakfast blend on a foggy morning, all the flavors of St. Johns come together nicely — creating a sum total greater (and weirder) than each individual. So I guess the St. Johns’ rallying cry should be “Keep St. Johns Weird-er”!